


Two Bros,, Chillin in the BAU Cuz They're Hella Gay

by 3jelly_beanss



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Dancing, Dating, Fluff, I made up a serial killer I hope u dont mind, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slow Burn, sort of included a coffee shop au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:01:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24941980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3jelly_beanss/pseuds/3jelly_beanss
Summary: Spencer Reid has always looked up to fellow FBI agent Derek Morgan, but recently he's started to see him in a different light. Morgan's pet names used to drive him crazy, and they still do, but... he loves them now. What is it that makes his stomach churn and heart flutter at Morgan's usual smirking, flirting, and winking?
Relationships: Derek Morgan & Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid
Comments: 11
Kudos: 92





	1. The Dream

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction... i hope you like it!!! Nothing to warn about in this chapter except for some moreid cuteness, which of course you were expecting. I hope it's not too short!!

The plane ride back was a silent one. The case had been relatively simple, which was good, as Dr. Spencer Reid had been preoccupied with a splitting headache half the time. This left the agents sitting, seemingly frozen in time, perhaps from contentment or maybe from exhaustion. Reid sat with one long leg over the other, a book in his lap, and a focused scowl on his face. JJ had a planner and her phone lying on the table in front of her, looking through both and scribbling lazily in the planner. Both Hotchner and Rossi had fallen asleep, their heads drooping to the side, though Hotch looked significantly more graceful while sleeping than Rossi. Dr. Blake was listening to an odd playlist of classical music and classic rock while she wrote notes on some papers--maybe essays, maybe case files. She seemed to be in her own zoned-out world in her head. Morgan sat across from Reid, occasionally looking over at him, though Reid, entirely entranced by his book, seemed not to notice. Morgan had headphones in and was playing some weird fictional horror podcast both Reid and Garcia had suggested. He wasn’t the biggest fan, but it was at least incredibly interesting.  
Morgan found himself wanting to see Reid’s face again. He had the most hilarious expressions on his face when he was concentrating, and it was so odd to Morgan that his eyes, although they were simply brown, seemed to change color every time Morgan looked up. Morgan raised his gaze from the table to Reid, where he found the doctor’s eyes locked intently on his.  
“You’ve looked up at me twenty-six times in the last hour,” Reid muttered, shifting his gaze back to the page he was reading. “Not that I’m a profiler or anything, but I’d say you have something you’d like to talk to me about…”  
Morgan could see the smug smile playing at the corners of Reid’s mouth, and he allowed a grin to spread across his own face. “You got me, kid.” He paused, his grin fell a bit, and his thick, dark brows furrowed. “I’m just… worried about you, is all. Are you really doing alright?”  
Reid seemed to soften. His caramel eyes darted over to look at his friend. “I’m really doing fine. You know about the headaches… I had a bad one today, but… it seems to have left me. I’m able to focus on this Agatha Christie novel for once. I don’t know how they don’t see it; Andre did it!”  
Morgan chuckled and the corners of his eyes crinkled. “Okay, Reid. I trust you to tell me if you need me,”  
This wasn’t a statement, but an inquiry, and Spencer gave his answer with the look in his eyes and the slight upturn of the left side of his mouth. The other agent nodded at him in response.  
The jet landed as jarringly as most planes do, waking up all of its tired passengers. It was nighttime, as it usually was when they returned from a case. Reid yawned as he walked through the glass doors and into the dark and abandoned maze of desks. He shuffled to his cluttered desk and dropped into his chair.  
“Hey, baby girl,” Morgan greeted the bashful blonde hacker as she emerged from her screen-covered abode.  
“Oh how I missed you, chocolate thunder,” she replied almost immediately with a smirk. “What are your plans for tonight?”  
“Oh, probably the same as yours,” Morgan replied with a wink.  
Garcia laughed. “Actually, I was thinking you could come over to my house...” She looked around at the various weary members of the BAU packing up their things to go home. “Anyone else want to come? I can make popcorn! And put on a movie!”  
Hotch and JJ respectfully declined, citing their parental duties, and shuffled away to their homes and beds. Rossi simply shook his head and yawned on his way out. Alex turned her down as well, obviously eager to get to bed and probably to her husband. Reid got up to leave, slung his bag over his shoulder, and headed over to where Garcia and Morgan were debating what movie to watch.  
“Oh, don’t tell me you’re going to disappoint me too, Dr. Reid!”  
“Actually, no,” He smiled at her, watching her face light up, his own dimples appearing in response. “I’d appreciate some company and… a movie sounds nice. Of course, depending on what you’re planning to watch.”  
Garcia pumped her fist and Morgan replied, “All right, pretty boy!” both of them grinning at their friend.  
The group eventually decided to watch Back to The Future, which Reid constantly critiqued for various inaccuracies and Morgan critiqued for its generally weird plot. Despite this, it was well-liked by them all, especially Garcia, who took offense to their many insults aimed at the movie. A few minutes in, Garcia mentioned a couple of bottles of wine she had saved in her pantry. One thing eventually led to another. The movie ended with the three of them huddled together on Garcia’s brightly-colored couch, both Reid and Garcia leaning into Morgan. Two wine bottles and three plastic cups lay empty on the floor. They all slurred along with Doc the final lines of the movie.  
“We gotta go back!” The two men said.  
“Back where?” Garcia said with a goofy voice, making Reid erupt with giggles.  
“BACK TO THE FUTURE!!” They all chimed in.  
Garcia stumbled off of the couch and rubbed her eyes. “Oh geez, guys, I gotta sleep.”  
Reid sat on the couch and his mouth fell open. His head swung around to face Morgan. “I’m drunk!”  
Morgan started laughing. He stage whispered back, “Me too, kid!”  
“Garcia…?” Reid started to ask.  
“On the couch! Just be quiet, you two. I need my beauty sleep.” She staggered off to her room.  
Reid yawned and snuck out from under Morgan’s arm. They sat there for a couple of seconds in drowsy silence.  
“I call couch,” Reid declared.  
“Damn, pretty boy, you won’t share with me?”  
“Nah! Too many muscles. You won’t fit.”  
Morgan stifled a laugh and stood up. “I wonder if Garcia has an-“  
“Extra mattress in the extra room!” Garcia yelled from the other side of the apartment. Morgan nodded and made his way to the closet.  
After Reid helped him move the mattress into the living room, Morgan had to knock on Garcia’s door to ask to borrow a pillow, receiving something that looked like an old lady’s with tassels on the edges. He took a quilt off the back of the couch and made the mattress acceptably comfortable.  
Reid has long ago taken off his belt and tie in preparation for sitting on a couch for two hours, but he now took off his cardigan and dress shirt, revealing a wrinkled white t-shirt. Morgan had already been wearing a moderately comfortable outfit to sleep in, but he took off his black cargo pants anyways to reveal plaid boxers. He then got to getting to sleep, which Reid had already accomplished a few minutes before.  
Morgan let his heavy eyelids fall and as he drifted off, he heard something. It was Reid’s breathing, with a slight snore as he breathed in and a puff of air as he exhaled.  
“Cute,” Morgan mumbled.  
What he didn’t hear was the interruption of Reid’s calm snoring as he heard this, though he remained asleep. A smile spread across his face.  
Reid’s dreams were usually about Maeve. At least, they had been for quite a few months. The past month, he had only seen her twice, and she was starting to fade, becoming more and more blurry as time went on. Tonight, the dream began as it usually did. Reid opened his eyes to see the warmly-lit library of Oxford, a copy of Sherlock Holmes open in his lap.  
“Your order, sir?”  
The voice of the waiter still surprised him after four months.  
“Double espresso with two creams and three sugars, please.”  
“Whoa, late night, pretty boy?”  
Reid looked down to see Morgan, grinning, looking back at him. Reid’s eyes scanned over the man in front of him: his purple v-neck, his crow’s feet, the sparkle in his dark eyes and his bright smile.  
Reid gasped awake, sitting up suddenly, his eyes snapping open. He was disoriented for a bit, as he was lying uncomfortably on a floral couch covered in a crocheted blanket with Morgan on the floor next to him and a vintage lamp shining pink light on them both. He sighed and laid back down, allowing sweet darkness to envelop him, the only sound Morgan, mumbling things incoherent.


	2. Pirate Penelope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope Garcia is absorbed in a bizzare dreamland after the trio's late night. Meanwhile, Morgan cooks up a surprise for his sleeping friends...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... basically a pirate au. I hope you like it!

Morgan woke up late, bleary-eyed, and with a headache, as one might expect. Fortunately it was Saturday, and unless there were unusual circumstances, none of them would have to come in. Of course, where they worked, there were often unusual circumstances.  
Morgan rubbed his eyes and groaned as he sat up. Reid was still asleep on the couch next to him, snoring softly. Morgan smiled weakly. All the lights were still off, so he figured Garcia was still passed out too. The sun streamed through Garcia’s windows in blinding stripes. Morgan finally decided to get up, shoving Garcia’s quilt aside and stepping off of the mattress onto the tan carpet. He had some work to do.

Garcia was dreaming, and she had been for some time. Presently, she was in the middle of a pirate’s quest on Captain Morgan’s boat the Chocolate Thunder. She had risen quickly from a mere deckhand to the second-in-command, First Mate Penelope Garcia, as she had easily curried favour with the beautiful, buff, dark-skinned Captain.  
The ship had been in open, spotless, landless sea for almost a week now, and fresh water was running low.  
“Baby girl!”  
“Aye, Captain?” Penelope rushed to Morgan’s side at the helm of the ship.  
“Do you see that in the water?”  
They both squinted out to sea, where among few dark rocks was a distinctly… almost-human shape! Someone seemed to be lying sprawled on the rocks, his long brown hair curled messily about him.  
“There’s a man out there! Aye, crew, steer us to those rocks!”  
“Aye-aye, Cap’n!” Penelope ran off to secure and release ropes, other men and women rushing around her to unfurl or furl sails and steer the ship in the right direction. The salty air washed over her, as well as the anticipation of who the mysterious man might be.  
“Stop ‘er here, mateys. Baby girl, you ready to get in the rowboat?”  
“I’m ready for you to rock my world, Cap’n.” She replied with a sultry voice, and they climbed into the dilapidated rowboat and were lowered down to the water.  
Captain Morgan really did rock her world. He was shit at steering the rowboat, and Penelope was starting to feel queasy. They neared the rocks, and something looked weird to the First Mate. Was she feeling so sick that her vision was turning green? No, it couldn’t be… The man on the rocks was half-submerged in water, but past his waist he seemed to turn green. Could it be the water?   
“Captain! Look!”  
The man was starting to move, and where his feet should have been, a large, green tail like a fish’s splashed lazily in and out of the water.  
“A merman! Astounding! I’ve never seen one before; have you, mate?”  
“Aye, no, Captain.” They both looked on in awe at the seemingly lethargic merman.  
They rowed up to the rocks where the half-man sat. He seemed entirely unaware of what was going on and his eyes were closed, but he was definitely alive. The two noticed a gash in his side bleeding red out into the water.  
“Hello, sir,” Penelope tried talking to him while Morgan stepped out and started to pick him up to put him in the rowboat. “I hope you don’t mind if we rescue you; you seem to be a bit hurt.” He opened his amber eyes and looked at her for a second before he collapsed into the Captain’s arms and had to be lowered gently onto the wooden planks of the boat.  
Back on deck, the merman had been laid in the Captain’s chambers, Morgan trying to tend to his wounds. Penelope watched as he used cloth to stop the blood coming from the cut.  
The merman’s fingers twitched and his tail swished on the bed sheets. His amber eyes opened again and he saw the man with furrowed brows tending carefully to his wounds and the worried woman standing beside him. The man saw he was awake and gasped.  
“Sir Merman… hold this cloth to your wound. Are you alright? Water, baby girl!”  
“Why, yes…” The merman answered softly, “Thank you.”  
Garcia rushed back with the water and was about to hand it to Morgan when she noticed something.  
“Is that Reid? Hey, Reid!” Morgan took the water from her and looked at her, puzzled.  
“How do you know my name?” The merman asked.  
“Uh, we work at the BAU together, duh? Morgan, you work there too!”  
“What’s a BAU, matey?” Morgan inquired.  
Penelope couldn’t quite remember. She sniffed. “Whoa! Does it smell like bacon to you guys? Oh man, and eggs!”  
The scene around her faded to black, and Penelope’s eyes slowly opened to see her blurry pillows and blankets. She then became abundantly aware of her splitting headache. However, she was intrigued enough by the smell of bacon and eggs to drag herself out of bed.

Morgan stood in the middle of her kitchen in her favorite frilly pink gingham apron with a spatula in his hand and steam from his cooking rising and spreading through the apartment.  
“Hey, baby girl,” He said with a smile when he saw her.  
“Aw, Morgan, you didn’t have to… You are so good to me, baby boy.” Morgan came over to give her a hug.  
“Now let me wake up pretty boy over here....” Morgan said with a mischievous smile. He leaned over Reid’s sleeping form sprawled on the couch and tousled his hair. He saw Spencer’s eyelashes fluttering.  
Spencer opened his eyes to see Morgan hovering over him, his breath warm on his face, a teasing smile on his lips, and his hand in Reid’s curly mess of hair. “Ack!” He yelled and snapped forward, the two men’s foreheads colliding. They both staggered back, clutching their aching heads.  
Garcia laughed. “Sheesh! Get in here, you klutzes, before I eat all the bacon.”  
Morgan headed to the kitchen, but Reid sat on the couch for a few moments, holding his head in his hands. The previous night came back to him. Sitting under Morgan’s arm, his warmth, his voice whispering that he was cute, the dream… A flush spread over his cheeks. He shook his head and stood up to get breakfast.

Morgan made really good fried eggs, Reid discovered. He stuffed another bite into his mouth as Garcia continued the story of a crazy dream she had woken up from.  
“I was the Captain?”  
“Yeah, Captain Morgan!” There was a brief period of silence and then they all burst out laughing. “I think I had alcohol on the brain. And Reid was a mermaid!”  
“A mermaid! Wow,” Reid puzzled over it for a second. “What color was my tail?”  
“Green.”  
“Aw, bland.”  
“And then I woke up to the smell of bacon, thanks to this guy over here,” Penelope said, gesturing with her elbow at Morgan, who grinned.  
“What can I say except I live to please,” He said, and they all laughed.   
Garcia’s phone started to play a Backstreet Boys song. Reid’s phone chimed in, buzzing in his pocket. Morgan’s phone joined in the chaos with Janelle Monae.  
“Yeah?” They all answered at the same time. Then they all groaned in sync. It was time to go to work.


	3. The Killer is a Geek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is called into the BAU on a new, very strange case that Reid recognizes immediately. Later, Reid sees Morgan in a surprising setting, but he's not particularly upset over it. After all, it makes sense to see someone in your dreams if they've been crossing your mind all day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: some description of gore and murder- also major morgan and reid cuteness at the end

Spencer, Penelope, and Derek all stumbled into the BAU together, the same way they had last night. Except, Penelope was chugging water, Spencer was popping an aspirin, and Morgan was rubbing his temples. Rossi held open the door for them and raised an eyebrow at their odd behavior. He was a behavioral analyst, after all.  
“Late night?”  
“We may have had a sleepover at Garcia’s,” Reid explained sheepishly.  
“After two bottles of wine,” Garcia added. Rossi nodded and chuckled as they headed past him to the Round Table.  
JJ and Hotch were already sitting in their usual seats, and files filled with disturbing imagery sat waiting for them all. JJ looked up and her eyes locked onto Reid’s unfocused ones. The two men sat down and Garcia searched around for the slideshow controller.  
“Spence?” JJ finally said.  
“Yup?” Spencer looked up at her and she was torn between staring at the insane shape his matted, curly hair was making and staring at the dark purple circles under his eyes.  
“Your, uh, hair…” She trailed off.  
He furrowed his eyebrows and tried to run his fingers through his hair, and scoffed on finding it was too tangled.  
“Found it!” Garcia shouted and leaped up from where she had been looking on the ground, holding the remote in her hand. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked around to see that Blake and Rossi had arrived in their seats. The slideshow started. “So, there have been a couple very peculiar murders in Seattle, Washington recently. They seem entirely unconnected, but they all contain very weird and specific rituals. They’ve never seen anything like it there… Anyways! First up we have Sean Romney, a 37-year-old actor, who was found five days ago in an abandoned building with, uh, quite a bit of him removed. His feet and hands were removed as well as his eyes and tongue, and his nose was cut off.”  
“The removal of the tongue could mean the unsub wants to silence him,” Alex remarked.  
“Well, he definitely wanted him to suffer,” Hotcher said, “It seems like some sort of punishment.”  
“To the pain.” Reid said.  
“What?”  
“Have you never read the Princess Bride? To the pain! Wesley is seemingly immobile and Prince Humperdink comes to kill him, but Wesley stalls him by describing in detail a torture method he would use to shame and mutilate him. It matches this killing perfectly! Romney even looks like Humperdink a bit.”  
“Weird,” Morgan said, shaking his head.  
“On to the second murder, we have a nurse that was kidnapped four days after they found Sean, and she was found that night in an abandoned building like, um, that.” Garcia clicked and the image appeared. “She’d been impaled a crazy number of times with a bunch of items that look like they’re all from a hospital.”  
“Forty-one times.” Reid stated assuredly. “T- That’s from Hannibal.”  
“The book?”  
“The movie?”  
“The TV show,” Reid corrected. “In season 1, on episode 6, a man named Abel Gideon murders a nurse exactly like that, except he does it to escape the Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane. He’s doing it to impersonate the Chesapeake Ripper, otherwise known as Hannibal Lecter. Tell me, was her kidney removed surgically?”  
“Yes,” Garcia replied, surprised. She whispered to Reid, “You watch Hannibal?”  
“Of course. It’s a very well-constructed show about the FBI and based on one of my favorite books. Also, Will Graham is an amazing profiler and character. Do you guys mind if I say ‘this is my design’ from now on when I’m recreating crime scenes?”  
“Have at it, Reid.” Hotch answered.  
“So, all of these murders were committed by… a nerd?” Rossi asked.  
“It seems that way,” Reid answered, “This unsub has replicated the crimes perfectly.”  
“Actually, not perfectly. If I remember correctly, Gideon didn’t remove the eyes of the nurse?”  
“No, he didn’t…” Reid’s brow furrowed.  
“This man is killing for his own sick amusement and he’s waiting less than a week between kills. We need to get there or there might be another body soon,” Hotch told them. “Be on the jet in 30.” They all dispersed to grab their go bags, except for Reid. He left for the bathroom, tugging at his hair, trying to form it into a relatively normal shape.

Reid, Morgan, and Garcia got to recover some sleep and finally change out of the clothes they had been wearing for a day and a night on the plane. Reid had managed to tame his hair and he attempted to read some Albert Camus. His eyelids were heavy, and he caught his head lolling more than once. Still, he tried to stay awake.  
“Hey, pretty boy...maybe you should get some sleep. You don’t have to force yourself to read philosophy to impress me, you know, I already know you’re smart.” He chuckled and watched as Reid turned pink.  
“I don’t read philosophy to impress you; I read philosophy to improve my mind and understand the world and our cases better.”  
“Ouch, babe, you could have let me down easier,” Morgan teased.  
Reid avoided his eyes and his cheeks got even more red. “Fine, I’ll sleep, Morgan.”  
“See you in four hours.”  
Spencer folded his arms across his chest and let his chin rest on his chest. After he had closed his eyes, it took only ten minutes for him to be out completely. The first thing he was aware of in the dream was the soft classical music. It was Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor. He opened his eyes to the all-too-familiar cafe library, the smell of dust, old books, tea, and coffee filling the air.  
“Your order, sir?”  
Redi looked up from his copy of The Princess Bride. “One double espresso with two creams and three sugars, please.” He looked down from where the waiter stood and looked into the eyes of the dazzling Derek Morgan.  
“Whoa, late night, pretty boy?” He called to the server, “I’ll take a black coffee, please.” Reid had always liked how Morgan was rarely complicated, but he found himself confused and unsure of what to say or do. Complicating things was often Reid’s specialty.  
“I’m sorry Maeve doesn’t visit you here anymore,” Morgan said, looking solemnly at Reid, who avoided eye contact.  
“It’s alright. She hasn’t for a while.” He paused. “I’m happy to see you here.”  
“Really?” Morgan laughed, and his crow’s feet showed. “What are you reading, babe?”  
“The Princess Bride. It’s really a masterpiece. It has incredible wit, and so well written.” Reid’s eyes lit up when he talked about it.  
Morgan laughed. “You’re cute.” Reid felt his face heating up. “I’ve never read it, but I liked the movie; it was a funny one. I can see what you’re saying about the wit.”  
“What do you like to read, Morgan?”  
“Hm… I’ve never been the reading type, really. My attention span’s too low, I think.” His face broke out in another one of those smiles Reid loved. “But, when we had to read books for school, I always liked those old-timey romances. The Great Gatsby was one of my favorites. Of course, I had to hide that I actually liked it from everyone on my football team.” He laughed, and Reid smiled, dimples appearing in his cheeks. They sat in silence for a while, both sipping on coffees that were somehow there despite the fact that they had never been served to them.  
“Morgan… how do you feel about me?” When Reid could finally bring himself to make eye contact with Morgan, the other agent was staring off into space.  
“ This is a really great song, don’t you think?” Reid hadn’t realized it had changed from Beethoven to a soft, slow song with a soothing violin. He didn’t recognize it.  
“...Yes.”  
“Dance with me, pretty boy.” Morgan extended one of his strong hands to Reid, who could only stare at it.  
“I’m really no good...”  
“Oh, come on. Indulge me.”  
Reid found he was unable to stop himself from grabbing Morgan’s hand, though he did so slowly and nervously. “Fine, Morgan.”  
They stood up together, and Morgan led the star-struck Dr. Reid to a clear area of the library. Morgan pulled him in and laced his fingers with Reid’s. His muscular arm snuck around Reid, resting at his waist, pulling him closer, til their chests were touching. Reid’s hands were sweating. He laughed softly and shakily extended his arm and rested it around Derek’s shoulders. He could feel every defined, smooth muscle resting underneath Morgan’s shirt. He could feel Morgan’s warm breath on his ear, and he felt that his breath was shaky and his cheeks were warm. They swayed together, turning in circles. Reid was so tired, and Morgan was so warm. He closed his eyes and rested his head on Morgan’s shoulder, but the darkness overtook him, and Morgan was gone.


	4. Morgan's a Tease

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Morgan does what he does best, which is tease his friends because he loves them and also because Dr. Spencer Reid is a nerd so it's pretty easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's such a short chapter! More to come!! Enjoy some very flustered Reid...

Morgan was tired. Penelope’s mattress hadn’t been super comfortable, and he thought he had a knot in his back from sleeping in some weird position. He put his headphones on and tried to ignore his mild hangover symptoms. The slow, soft beat of the song flowed through his head and soothed his worries. This case was a bizarre one. A murderer lacking patterns will be much harder to catch, if not impossible.  
Morgan tried to imagine what Garcia was doing back at her ornately decorated desk in Quantico. He figured she was trying to catch up on sleep, slumped over her keyboard, putting off her research until later. The people on the plane were occupying themselves with small tasks. Hotch and Rossi were discussing the case in hushed voices, most likely trying to come up with a preliminary profile. Alex was reading with a pencil sticking out of her mouth. She would occasionally take it out, spin it in her fingers, and write on the yellow pages. The case files lay open in front of JJ while she looked over them with studious curiosity and a smidge of disgust.   
Directly across from Morgan, Reid seemed to have fallen asleep. His short, brown eyelashes fluttered and his mouth moved just slightly to form words Derek couldn’t hear or understand. He looked away and just barely noticed droplets on the window beside him. It was raining outside of the jet, and water ran in streaks and perfectly spherical drops across the window. Morgan had always loved the look, the smell, and the sound of rain. He made the nostalgic decision to take off his headphones and try to hear it. The roaring of the engine, the blowing of the wind, and the odd, surprisingly loud sound the raindrops falling on the outside of the jet made all filled his ears. Derek then noticed a softer sound. He turned his gaze to discover Reid murmuring things under his breath so that Morgan could just barely hear him.  
“...’spresso…” Morgan heard, and the corner of his mouth turned up. Of course the very caffeine-addicted Doctor was dreaming about coffee. “S’alright… m’happy…” He paused and a smile momentarily appeared on his sleeping face. “Princess.. Wit…” Reid mumbled very fast and Morgan could interpret very little of it. “...Morgan?” He paused, and Morgan leaned closer to try to hear better. “Morgan, how d’you…” He trailed off. There was a long pause. Reid shifted slightly. “No, no… Fine…” He smiled slowly, like he couldn’t help it. His head swayed to the side and he started snoring softly through his nose. Morgan stayed looking at him in confused, intrigued disbelief. He chuckled softly and put his headphones back in, unable to stop thinking about the look on his friend’s face or what he said and what it could mean.

“Reid, Morgan.” Aaron Hotchner’s voice was what pulled Reid out of a deep sleep. He quickly lifted his head and turned it towards his superior. It looked like Morgan had been sleeping too, as he yawned before nodding at Hotch. Reid rubbed his eyes a bit and smiled wearily at Morgan. He turned away before they could make eye contact.  
“Good. You’re all awake. We’ll be landing in Seattle soon. JJ and I will head to the police station and get us set up there. Rossi and Blake, you head to the morgue to see both victims. Reid and Morgan, you’ll visit the most recent crime scene.” Reid nodded and turned back to Derek, trying his best to be as normal as possible.  
The Doctor immediately noticed something was off. Morgan was looking at him in an odd, knowing way and grinning widely.   
Reid cocked an eyebrow. “What?”  
“Dreaming, pretty boy?”  
Reid mouth opened momentarily and both of his eyebrows almost hopped up off his face. “Ah- w- what? You know, the average person dreams about four to six times a night, if not more?” He paused, and the teasing look didn’t disappear off of Morgan’s face. “Actually, 95 percent of dreams are forgotten seconds after we wake up. You know, I do have the distinct feeling I was dreaming, but…” He scrunched up his face and then shrugged in defeat. “I can’t seem to remember anything. Why do you ask?”  
“You were talking in your sleep.” Derek remarked, nonchalant.  
Reid’s eyes widened. “Oh! Interesting phenomenon. What did I say?”  
“Oh, nothing too weird. You talked about coffee, some princess or something, and then... you said my name a few times.”  
“Ah. Weird! Too bad I don’t, uh, remember that dream. Wow. Too bad.” Reid nodded emphatically.  
Morgan smirked at him and raised one eyebrow. “Well, if you remember anything, make sure to let me know.”  
“Sure!” Reid smiled, his cheeks pink, his hands twitching hyperactively. 

Morgan sat in the front seat of a large, black SUV, one of his hands resting on the top of the steering wheel. Reid sat in the passenger seat next to him, hunched over a book, trailing his finger down each page. The day was a humid, gray one. Clouds hung in the sky and cast gloomy shadows over the wet roads and grass.   
“Spencer,” Morgan said, looking over at Reid with a smile on his face.  
“Hm?” He replied, not looking up.  
“I’ve never believed that you actually read that fast, you know. You’ve got to be faking it.”  
Reid looked up, his jaw gaping open and his eyebrows furrowed, his expression extremely disgruntled. “Are you serious? I always read like this! I promise. I- I- I’ve explained the subconscious processing method to you, right?”  
“Yeah, sure…” Morgan said with an air of suspicion and then laughed, his tongue sticking through his white teeth.  
“Morgan, I think, you know, as a Doctor and profiler, that you just don’t believe someone could be that much smarter than you.”  
Morgan’s mouth hung open for a second, but he started to laugh harder. “Low blow, Doc!”  
A tall building made of dirty old gray concrete loomed in front of them. It was covered in graffiti, had multiple broken windows, and was surrounded by an imposing metal gate. A couple of police cars sat outside, and a man in a uniform started to approach their vehicle.  
Morgan parked and they both greeted the police officer, Morgan with a nod, Reid with an awkward smile.  
“SSA Derek Morgan,” He said, shaking the man’s hand. “This is my colleague…”  
“Dr. Spencer Reid,” Reid finished with a small wave.  
“Deputy Ted Murphy. Good to see the FBI here… This’un’s a weird one.”  
Reid and Morgan exchanged a look and allowed themselves to be led towards the ominous crime scene.


	5. Time to Present the Profile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A whole day in which regular FBI things happen. Crime scenes and bodies are investigated, the profile is presented, and something unexpected occurs...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: a bit of gorey description and some profiling, nothing that wouldn't be in the show.  
> Sorry for the long wait between chapters!!!

Reid, Morgan, Rossi, and Blake all arrived at the police station at the same time. They were in a hurry and barely bothered to exchange pleasantries with the various men and women in the crowded station. Hotchner and JJ stood in front of a glass board, studying papers and various photographs and sticky notes that hung on the glass.  
Reid and Blake reached the door of the room at the same time and they both said, “Hotch, there’s something you need to hear.” They then looked at each other, surprised. Hotchner turned to face them and all four agents scrambled into the room.  
“Ah… Blake and Rossi first.” He said.  
“Here.” Blake handed him a photograph of the dead body of the first victim, specifically his face and throat. His face had been horribly disfigured, as detailed in the popular movie, but oddly, there was vivid bruising around his throat. “COD Strangulation. His hands and feet were removed before, but the facial disfiguration was postmortem. They also found tranquilizers in his system. The second victim was different, though. She died of blood loss. The unsub managed to avoid major arteries. This guy has to have pretty advanced medical knowledge.”  
“Interesting… Reid, Morgan?”  
“What was done to the nurse was done while she was alive.” Morgan said. “The unsub had something major against this nurse.”  
“The first victim he didn’t really seem to care about; he mutilated him for the fun of it. However, with the second victim, it’s possible he had a personal connection to the victim or she was a surrogate for someone he knows.” Reid added.  
“He’s definitely a sadist,” Hotch stated. “But the method of torture doesn’t seem to be important to him, except for the eye-gouging. Without a signature, he’ll be hard to catch.”

Hotch instructed Blake and Reid to conduct interviews with the family members. JJ was off talking to the press. Morgan was informed of the nurse’s boyfriend, a possible suspect, and was instructed to interrogate him. Rossi and Hotch speculated in the glass room. Slowly, everyone returned with various information they had learned. JJ rushed in and interrupted their discussion.  
“We have a problem. The media is running wild.” She picked up a remote and turned on the television in the room.  
A woman in her twenties, obviously not a reporter because of her wild appearance, was talking into the microphone.  
“Someone is being allowed to destroy my favorite movies, my favorite shows! There’s a killer perverting beautiful media! The police kept it quiet, and apparently none of them watch television, so they have no idea what’s going on!” A reporter grabbed the microphone from the raving woman.  
“There you have it, folks. There’s a so-called “Fanfiction Killer” on the loose, and the police aren’t even aware of it.”  
“They named him.” JJ sighed.  
“We need to present the profile to law enforcement now.” Hotchner said. “JJ, go to the press afterwards. We might be able to find this unsub through people that know him.”

Hordes of police officers sat in chairs and crowded the police station, all there to hear the information the FBI had for them.  
“This unsub is a white male between the ages of 20 and 30.” Hotch started.  
Reid interrupted. “This age fits because he must be old enough to have medical training and also young enough to have watched The Princess Bride and Hannibal.”  
“This man is a sadist and an intelligent psychopath. He’s killed more than just these two victims, but his signature and MO change, so it’s unlikely we’ll ever connect them.” Hotchner continued.  
“Our best chance at finding this man is to find people that know him.” JJ continued. “He’ll be antisocial and only popular with people he shares interests with. He will have odd obsessions with visual medias like TV shows and movies and probably know a lot of trivia about them.”  
“He has medical training, but he’s probably not working right now. He may have been fired recently or just never got a job after med school.” Morgan said.   
Rossi added, “He’s killing because he’s bored. This is one of his obsessions or one of his hobbies.”

They finished the profile. It was getting late. JJ had gone to the press and presented the profile. Garcia was doing research, sifting through people that fit the profile. Reid sat in a chair, looking absentmindedly over some papers. He held his again aching head in his hand. A strong hand slipped onto his shoulder gently. He looked up into a friendly face.

“Reid, take a break.” Morgan said..  
“I just… feel so useless. What if we never find him? What if he kills again tonight?”  
“That’s not something you can control, boy genius. Right now, we can’t do anything. I know, I feel bad about it, too, but Garcia, who can help, is doing all she can.” Morgan grabbed Reid’s hand and tugged a bit.  
Reluctantly, Reid allowed himself to be led up to stand next to Morgan. He was hyper aware of his clammy hand in Morgan’s large, calloused one and how close their faces were. Fortunately, Morgan didn’t notice Reid’s reddening cheeks as the doctor was staring at his feet.  
“It’s nine o’clock… to the hotel, pretty boy?”  
Hotchner burst in and Reid sprang back from Morgan and dropped his hand to his side, stealing it away from Morgan’s gentle grasp.  
“By the way, the hotel was almost at full capacity and we figured we’d save the bureau a few bucks, so there are only four hotel rooms.” Hotchner told the two. “Blake and JJ are sharing. Would you two mind…?”  
Reid stared at his supervising agent like a deer in headlights. He looked to Morgan, who shrugged at him.  
“Sure, Hotch.” Morgan answered.  
“A-Alright.” Reid responded. He hoped they hadn’t heard the waver in his voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 0///0 I wonder what's gonna happen next


	6. Growing Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spencer Reid and Derek Morgan have to share a hotel room, and Morgan won't stop bothering Reid about the odd dream he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing explicit! Just fluff...  
> I know it's short! Sorry!

The hotel was nice. The carpets were a dark green with a gold pattern on the edges. The hallways had lamps designed to look old-fashioned, and they were lined with mirrors and those odd paintings hotels always had. Reid and Morgan made their way to their shared room on the fourth floor. Neither of them had said a word to each other since the police station, and Reid’s anxiety was slowly and steadily building. What if he called out Morgan’s name in his sleep again?  
Morgan slid the card he had been given by someone at the front desk into the door. They entered the room. It was big enough, with a small bathroom and two full size beds with brown and green sheets. A small desk sat in the corner with a lamp on it. Reid breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the two beds. He strode towards the one closest the window and shook off the odd feeling of disappointment he had also gotten.   
“How’d you know I wanted the bed by the bathroom?” Morgan said as he put his bag down on his bed.  
“Oh, I didn’t.”  
Morgan smiled. “I was joking. But I do prefer this bed. Small bladder.”   
Reid smiled nervously, unsure if he should laugh.  
“So, what do you think of this case? Definitely weird, right?”  
Reid looked up to answer Morgan and found himself staring at the other man’s chiseled brown abs. His mouth hung open and he choked on the words about to come out of his mouth. He coughed, turning back to the briefcase he was unpacking.  
“Very odd. It’ll probably be studied quite a bit once we catch this unsub… I’ve never seen anything like it.” He glanced over at Morgan, who nodded. He was wearing a different shirt now. He was taking off his pants. Reid snapped his gaze back to his briefcase.  
“Me neither.”  
Reid grabbed a T-shirt and some of his favorite baggy pajama pants out of his backpack. He trod, head down, over to the bathroom.  
“Wait, pretty boy.” Morgan called. Reid froze with his hand on the door. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that dream on the plane… I’m very excited to hear that story.”  
Reid stuttered and turned to close the door, finding Morgan fully clothed and grinning at him. He shut the door and started changing, frantically trying to think of what he would say.

Morgan chuckled and dug a book out of his bag. He loved teasing Reid, just to see the look on the kid’s face. Of course, he wasn’t going to actually force him to tell him about the dream. He was very, very curious about it, though, especially because of the redness that appeared in the Doctor’s cheeks everytime he mentioned it.   
Reid emerged from the bathroom. Morgan smiled at him, but the other agent didn’t seem to notice, perhaps lost in thought. Morgan trailed him with his eyes as he walked to his bed. He thought Reid looked kind of cute in pajamas. His hair was messy. Morgan thought about running his fingers through it… He tore his gaze away and back to his book.  
“What are you reading?” Spencer asked.  
“Changing the subject?” Morgan teased, an eyebrow raised. “I’m joking with you. It’s The Great Gatsby. I always liked it, but I never knew why. I guess I’m just a romantic,” He said, laughing a bit.  
“I...had a dream about you,” Reid said slowly and reluctantly. “We were at a cafe in the library at Oxford.”  
“Isn’t that usually where-?”  
“Yes. We talked. It was about stupid things, books, movies, music....” He trailed off. “We danced.”  
Morgan muttered a curious ‘huh.’   
“Weird dream.” Reid said, still not facing Morgan. “I don’t know what it means.”  
Morgan chuckled. “Hmm… I think, maybe, it means you care about me, pretty boy.” He said in a teasing tone.  
Reid faced him, finally. Morgan could see Reid’s hands shaking and his brow furrowed with concern for his friend. “Yeah, right.” He said softly with a smile.

The two fellow agents read for a bit before they decided to turn out the light. Having been deprived of enough sleep the night before, they fell asleep quickly and easily. A few hours into sleep, however, Reid started to toss and turn, entangling himself in his blankets and sheets. He gasped for air and his limbs twitched and spasmed oddly. His brow furrowed, he muttered unintelligible things.  
Morgan’s eyes flickered open in the dark. A stream of warm light from the bathroom illuminated his friend, whimpering and breathing irregularly. He threw back his sheets and shuffled over to Spencer Reid. He shook the other man’s shoulder and whispered his name. Reid’s eyes soon snapped open and he took heaving breaths, looking wildly about him.  
“Reid? Reid, it’s okay. Look at me.” Reid smiled wearily and calmed down. “Scoot over, pretty boy.” Reid managed to disentangle himself from the sheets and made a space next to him on the bed. Morgan slid into the bed and pulled Reid close to him, slinging his arm around his side and finding Reid’s hand to hold. Reid closed his eyes on focused on the warmth of Morgan’s chest on his back and his breath on his neck. Morgan let his other hand play absentmindedly with the hair at the base of Reid’s neck. Their warmth and comfort and weariness quickly allowed the two to slip into the depths of sleep.


End file.
